The present invention relates to a device that manipulates a blade on the head of a scalpel. Infectious diseases can be transmitted from a used scalpel blade to a surgeon if the surgeon is accidentally cut while removing the blade from the scalpel head with his or her fingers. Although surgeons have always been concerned about accidentally lacerating themselves, the problem has become a grave one with the advent of AIDS and other, as yet incurable, diseases that are communicated via infected blood and tissues.
A scalpel blade has an elongated shape and a sharp edge and point. The blade also has an elongated aperture into which a correspondingly elongated boss or tang on the scalpel head fits to secure the two together. The aperture is wider at its rear or proximal end than at its forward or distal end. The tang has grooves on its upper and lower edges that engage the upper and lower rims of the narrower portion of the blade aperture, thereby preventing the blade from moving laterally on the tang. To remove a scalpel blade from the scalpel head in the time-honored manner, the surgeon grasps the (unsharpened) heel of the blade with two fingers and bends it away from the scalpel head slightly. The heel typically has an indentation on one or both edges to facilitate grasping it between the fingers. With the proximal end of the blade thus bent, the proximal end of blade aperture clears the proximal end of the tang on the scalpel head. The surgeon then grasps the blade heel with two fingers and moves the blade forward with respect to the scalpel head, with the aperture rim sliding in the groove on the tang. When the tang has been completely removed from the aperture, the surgeon may place the blade in a receptacle for scalpel blades and similar sharp objects for disposal. If the surgeon accidentally loses his or her grip on the blade while moving the blade forward, however, the surgeon's finger may slip over the sharp edge, lacerating it. A surgeon may also be accidentally lacerated while mounting a blade on a surgical instrument.
Practitioners in the art have developed devices that allow a surgeon to extract a scalpel blade without grasping the heel of the blade between the fingers. Nevertheless, these devices may require a surgeon to use both hands to operate them. These devices may also not fully sequester the blade in a receptacle after removal. Moreover, many of these devices are not economical to manufacture. It would be desirable to provide a blade extractor and injector that are simple and convenient to use and economical to manufacture. These problems and deficiencies are clearly felt in the art and are solved by the present invention in the manner described below.